The Yahoo Sports-NBC Sports digital alliance and ESPN again held by a sizable margin the top two spots in monthly comScore multi-platform reach rankings of U.S. sports sites in July, the last month before football-related traffic boosts much of the category for the remainder of the year. The rest of the category largely held form from recent months, but significant changes are expected beginning with the August metrics report. ESPN, as is custom, led in consumption metrics, posting an average of 90.8 minutes per user during the month (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).

YAHOO REBRANDS: Yahoo yesterday launched a brand-wide redesign of its web pages, including Yahoo Sports, bringing a more consistent look and experience across its seven main web destinations. For the Sports site specifically, the new format is intended to increase the ease with which users can access their favorite team- and league-specific content, as well as content from exclusive partners like NBC Sports. Yahoo Fantasy offerings also have been redesigned, again with an emphasis on ease of use. The Yahoo Sports redesigns also will take effect on the iOS, Android phone and tablet versions of the site. Yahoo Sports Head of Products Brian Marshall said the new site "brings a personalized content stream front-and-center and provides one-click access to users' favorite teams." He added the redesign is the "next step in creating a consistent more personalized sports experience" (Preston Bounds, Staff Writer).